NAMED(8)NAMED(8)NAMEnamed - Internet domain name server
SYNOPSISnamed [ -c config-file ] [ -d debug-level ] [ -f ] [ -g
] [ -n #cpus ] [ -p port ] [ -s ] [ -t directory ] [
-u user ] [ -v ] [ -x cache-file ]
DESCRIPTIONnamed is a Domain Name System (DNS) server, part of the
BIND 9 distribution from ISC. For more information on the
DNS, see RFCs 1033, 1034, and 1035.
When invoked without arguments, named will read the
default configuration file /etc/named.conf, read any ini-
tial data, and listen for queries.
OPTIONS-c config-file
Use config-file as the configuration file instead
of the default, /etc/named.conf. To ensure that
reloading the configuration file continues to work
after the server has changed its working directory
due to to a possible directory option in the con-
figuration file, config-file should be an absolute
pathname.
-d debug-level
Set the daemon's debug level to debug-level.
Debugging traces from named become more verbose as
the debug level increases.
-f Run the server in the foreground (i.e. do not dae-
monize).
-g Run the server in the foreground and force all log-
ging to stderr.
-n #cpus
Create #cpus worker threads to take advantage of
multiple CPUs. If not specified, named will try to
determine the number of CPUs present and create one
thread per CPU. If it is unable to determine the
number of CPUs, a single worker thread will be cre-
ated.
-p port
Listen for queries on port port. If not specified,
the default is port 53.
-s Write memory usage statistics to stdout on exit.
Note: This option is mainly of interest to BIND 9
developers and may be removed or changed in a
future release.
-t directory
chroot() to directory after processing the command
line arguments, but before reading the configura-
tion file.
Warning: This option should be used in conjunction
with the -u option, as chrooting a process running
as root doesn't enhance security on most systems;
the way chroot() is defined allows a process with
root privileges to escape a chroot jail.
-u user
setuid() to user after completing privileged opera-
tions, such as creating sockets that listen on
privileged ports.
Note: On Linux, named uses the kernel's capability
mechanism to drop all root privileges except the
ability to bind() to a privileged port and set pro-
cess resource limits. Unfortunately, this means
that the -u option only works when named is run on
kernel 2.2.18 or later, or kernel 2.3.99-pre3 or
later, since previous kernels did not allow privi-
leges to be retained after setuid().
-v Report the version number and exit.
-x cache-file
Load data from cache-file into the cache of the
default view.
Warning: This option must not be used. It is only
of interest to BIND 9 developers and may be removed
or changed in a future release.
SIGNALS
In routine operation, signals should not be used to con-
trol the nameserver; rndc should be used instead.
SIGHUP Force a reload of the server.
SIGINT, SIGTERM
Shut down the server.
The result of sending any other signals to the server is
undefined.
CONFIGURATION
The named configuration file is too complex to describe in
detail here. A complete description is provided in the
BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.
FILES
/etc/named.conf
The default configuration file.
/var/run/named.pid
The default process-id file.
SEE ALSO
RFC 1033, RFC 1034, RFC 1035, rndc(8), lwresd(8), BIND 9
Administrator Reference Manual.
AUTHOR
Internet Software Consortium
BIND9 June 30, 2000 NAMED(8)
